Foo Fighters closed a two-date stand at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium on Sunday night with a nearly three-hour set that would have threatened to blow the roof off the venue if it had one. From the high-octane opener “The Teacher” (which is typically part of the encore) to standard closer “Everlong,” Dave Grohl and bandmates showed why, 30 years in, they are one of the most enduring, beloved rock bands out there. A show of hands revealed that lots of fans had been at the Friday show as well, and the band went out of their way to shake up the setlist, swapping out six songs and making the second show three tunes longer.
The concert ended just before 11 p.m. in a blaze of fireworks.
While they have always rocked harder live than on record with an exhilarating passion, Foo Fighters have also blended their solid crunch with songs that were heavy on melody, which led to a night of sing-alongs on such fan favorites as “All My Life,” “Times Like These,” “My Hero,” “Learn to Fly” and “Best of You.” Nearly three hours later, as the band got ready to finish the show with “Everlong,” Grohl reminded the audience that he didn’t like to say goodbye and that he and his bandmates would be back again. “Nobody’s packing this in anytime soon, just so you know,” he said, which drew a heavy cheer from the crowd.
Below are five highlights from the concert. During a three-song acoustic set, Grohl pulled out the gorgeous “Ballad for the Beaconsfield Miners” from 2007’s Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace . He wrote it for miners trapped in a Tasmanian mine in 2006 who requested an iPod with Foos songs while they waited to be rescued.
He usually only pulls it out when the band is in Australia or New Zealand — according to setlist.fm, the last time Grohl played the song in the U.S.
was in 2008 — so it was a real treat to hear a rare instrumental by the group and to experience this gorgeous rarity. Another standout from the acoustic set was “Statues” from the same album. It’s nothing new, but it’s still miraculous just how hard Grohl goes in concert every single night.
From the opening screams on “The Teacher” to main-set closer “Best of You,” he yelled with the gut-busting intensity of someone exorcising their demons. It seems impossible that he doesn’t damage his vocal cords, but three decades in, he’s still able to go from a feral scream to a whispered vocal seemingly effortlessly. At Sunday night’s shows, the next-generation game was strong.
Grohl’s 18-year old daughter, Violet, whom he introduced by calling her his favorite vocalist, joined him for “Show Me How,” a song the pair wrote for Grohl’s late mother. Taylor Hawkins’ son, 18-year old Shane, came out during the encore to take over drums from Josh Freese on the rip-roaring “I’ll Stick Around.” He’s joined the band quite a few times since his father’s death two years ago, and he grows more confident and ferocious each time.
Though he and Grohl didn’t greet each other when he first came out, right before “Everlong,” Hawkins came running back onstage and gave Grohl a sweet, brief hug. Along with the screaming, there’s a lot of smiling and a lot of cursing. Grohl really may set the record for the most use of the profanity “mother—-er” in concert, but it’s all so good-natured that even the most prudish can hardly take offense — though if you’re prudish, you’re probably not at a Foos show.
The simple fact is, as he roamed the stage, drenched in sweat, it was clear that no one was having as good a time as Grohl, and that energy is infectious. In the many times I’ve seen the Foo Fighters play, I’ve never seen Grohl be anything less than 100% in terms of dedication, enthusiasm and appreciation, and Sunday night was no different. His bandmates — Freese, guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, bassist Nate Mendel and keyboarist Rami Jaffee — are all sturdy, but fairly static, leaving Grohl to do the heavy lifting when it comes to crowd rousing.
With only three shows left on the tour, it would be understandable if Grohl was dragging a little, but his energy never flagged. Yes, the Foos played “The Pretender,” but the Chrissie Hynde-led The Pretenders opened up the second night and it was a fierce 14-song, hour-long set that didn’t let up from the minute Hynde and Company stepped on stage. Hynde’s vibrato remains gloriously intact, especially on such songs as “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “I’ll Stand By You,” as does her tough affect—though that was tempered by her wide-open grin as the set progressed.
Special mention to lead guitarist James Walbourne, who dazzled throughout with his muscular guitar work..
